Except that the one-game-at-a-time mantra is really nothing more than a mind game, a kind of self-hypnosis. The truth is that what happens in one game often has a ripple effect that impacts the next game or even the next several games.
The Phillies will take comfort in the fact that, despite last night's 7-2 pratfall, they still lead the best-of-seven series, 2-1.
The Phils' veteran lefty faced 11 hitters and retired only four of them. Hey, it happens. Even the best pitchers lay an egg every now and then.
This had a different feel than that, though, an indefinable something that has begun to cast a lengthening shadow over whatever remains of the Phillies' postseason magic carpet ride.
Part of it, honestly, is that Moyer is 45 years old. That may be unfair, since he's in remarkable shape. But he has pitched more than
200 innings this year and you have to wonder if the needle isn't almost on "E.''
"I don't think so," he said. "Not at all. I felt strong. I had a good bullpen. It's all about making pitches."
Part of it is that this is the second straight start that he's run into problems. In Game 3 of the division series at Milwaukee, with the Phillies having a chance to clinch, he lasted only four innings.
Asked what adjustments he thinks he needs to make, he just shook his head. "At this point, I really haven't thought about it," he said. "I have a few days and then we'll see where it goes from there."
Moyer's mission last night was simple. To convince the Dodgers that there was no way they were going to come back and win this series. These teams had met 10 times previously this season. The home team had won every time. A Phillies victory would have made their opponent realize that not even Dodger Stadium is a safe house for them.
Now Los Angeles can dream about taking the next two at home and then trying to steal a victory at Citizens Bank Park to advance to the World Series for the first time since 1988.
